New MiG-31 interceptor roles may include fighting sats

10/24/2018
Graphic News

October 23, 2018 -- The super-fast MiG-31 interceptor aircraft has been re-equipped to carry some of Russia’s most advanced air-launched attack weapons, including hypersonic and possible satellite-killing missiles.

The Mikoyan MiG-31, known to NATO as the “Foxhound”, is a Soviet fighter dating from the 1980s, and remains one of the fastest and highest flying jets ever built. About 130 are currently in service with the Russian Armed Forces.

The aircraft has been extensively upgraded, but it has also taken on new tasks: as an air-launcher for the Kinzhal ground-strike weapon and as an aerospace missile system to deliver small satellites to orbit or intercept enemy satellites, according to Aviation Week.